Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Good Kitty

It's been a rough week in our household. Last week, we noticed our nearly 20 year old cat Shadow was not eating much and her stomach seemed really bloated. The Wife took her to the vet and an X-ray revealed either a heart condition or intestinal tumor. They would have needed to do an ultrasound to nail it down, but either way it was a fatal illness. They asked what she wanted to do, and since the cat didn't appear to be in pain, the Wife brought her home.

A few days ago, she stopped eating and drinking all together. We've basically been on a death watch since Saturday, fully expecting the cat to be gone either when we woke up in the morning or got home. We made her as comfortable as possible, spending time petting her and scratching her chin, which she really likes. By yesterday, she couldn't even stand up.

Today when we got home, she was gone. We brought her to the vet for burial and it was a very tearful time, especially for Maverick. However, the vet was kind enough to give us some of her fur for a momento. In the spring, we're going to create a memorial for her in the back yard.

We rescued her from a shelter in Virginia Beach 17 and a half years ago. She had a great life and was a very good pet. She was a good kitty.

Monday, January 19, 2009

What's up

Sorry I've been lax. Just really haven't felt much like spending time on the internets. Except as related to my degree, of course. Some assignments were posted last week so I've been getting ahead on my reading. Tomorrow it kicks off officially. I'm spending every free moment I have on school work.

Things are crazy here. Just a couple of quick highlights. Maverick has had several wrestling meets and a tournament. He's won some matches and lost some matches, but has taken in all in stride and is excited to wrestle more. Grasshopper is buys visiting boy scout troops and will cross over next month. Time flies! Between sports, school, music, and scouts, we barely have any time for anything! We got a new roll top desk and 2 book cases for our den today. I totally love the new look in there. It's like a real den and will be a great place for me to study.

I have a ton of things going through my head right now, mostly about work and school and how the two are already coming together. I'm already learning things that are challenging how I manage.

As a final note, I took the advice of our pastor and have been giving the boys a simple blessing every night at bedtime. I put my hand on their heads and read the blessing. It's funny but they both feel really good when I do that and look forward to it. It goes as follows:

The LORD bless you and keep you!The LORD let his face shine uponyou, and be gracious to you!The LORD look upon you kindly andgive you peace!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Happy Birthday!

I know it's a few days late, but wanted to wish a public Happy Birthday to the Wife! She was a year older on Friday (the 9th). I shant reveal her age other than to say she's 3 months older than I! But she wears her age MUCH better than I do (and most other women her age, or even younger).

I got her some nice gifts, thermal undies, a high end utility knife for the kitchen (Wusthof), and an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. Don't think it's romantic? It was on her list, baby. She was like a kid at Christmas with that cleaner, getting all the scum off our jewelry.

We had a nice evening in with a fine dinner and cake. The only downer to the day was that it was Maverick's first wrestling meet. The Wife went and was loaded up with video camera and digital camera. She didn't tell Maverick, but she was hoping for a win for her birthday. However, there was no one in his weight class on the opposing team so he didn't wrestle. Still, he didn't lose!

There's mighty cold weather coming through the northeast this week so hope all my pals in it's path stay warm this week!

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Back to Normal

Tomorrow the kids go back to school and I go back to work. It will be "business as usual", at least, post-holiday as usual. I had a nice little break from work, but the only real accomplishment I can site for a week and a half off is that I got through all of my new Wii game, "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" (awesome Christmas gift from the Wife). I did get a few other odds and ends done around the house, but not much.

I've got about another 2 weeks and then I start my first Graduate School classes. We'll see how much work that is, but basically I'm budgeting all my free time from Sunday to Thursday to class. I'm looking forward to it but I'm sure it will be a bit of work. Worth it in the end, hopefully.

I'll be putting up stuff from time to time. Maverick has his first wrestling meet on Friday. We'll see how he does. Other than that, not much new going on. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and that 2009 brings many blessings.